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Asian Mediterranean Desert Truffles

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Desert Truffles

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 38))

Abstract

The Asian lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea––Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel––all include zones of arid and semiarid steppe with limited rainfall (50–250 and 300–600 mm annually, respectively). Hypogeous fungi are known to proliferate in such regions (relevant maps are presented). This paper defines the natural habitats, briefly mentioning soil characteristics, and describes the various climatic conditions prevailing in the different areas (average yearly precipitation; average, as well as extreme, summer and winter temperatures). Desert truffles have been extensively surveyed in both Turkey and Israel, but only limited knowledge is available for either Lebanon or Syria. We list all desert truffle species encountered in each region insofar as current knowledge permits. All in all three genera are encountered, Picoa (Pyronemataceae, two species), Terfezia (Pezizaceae, four species), and Tirmania (Pezizaceae, two species). Plant symbionts are identified where known (so far only species of the genus Helianthemum have been unequivocally determined as hosts). Neither truffle nor plant host species are specifically or uniquely coupled.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Life Sciences Department, Ben Gurion University, 653, Beer-Sheva, 84105, Israel

    Varda Kagan-Zur

  2. Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, Bitlis Eren University, Bitlis, 13000, Turkey

    Mehmet Akyuz

Authors
  1. Varda Kagan-Zur
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  2. Mehmet Akyuz
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Correspondence to Varda Kagan-Zur .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Life Sciences Department, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Varda Kagan-Zur

  2. Life Sciences Department, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Nurit Roth-Bejerano

  3. Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Yaron Sitrit

  4. Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain

    Asunción Morte

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Kagan-Zur, V., Akyuz, M. (2014). Asian Mediterranean Desert Truffles. In: Kagan-Zur, V., Roth-Bejerano, N., Sitrit, Y., Morte, A. (eds) Desert Truffles. Soil Biology, vol 38. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40096-4_11

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